The 59-year-old has had an amazing amount of success, proudly adorning his vehicles over the years with some real doozies, from funny to self-deprecating to sexually graphic. (One, for example, isn't referring to an appreciation of I-69.)

"I've been messing with those people for a long time," Hider said. "They've turned down some of the silliest stuff and accepted things I just couldn't believe."

A Marion County judge last week found the BMV failed to properly establish rules for reviewing applications, and its subjective approach to granting requests violated the First Amendment.

The judge also ordered the BMV to reinstate the personalized license plate program, which it suspended in June in the wake of the lawsuit brought on behalf of officer Rodney Vawter by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

"I'm going to ask for '0INKER' in his honor," Hider said of Vawter. "It was pretty brave for him to take them on, and I was really excited when I heard he won his case. I thought, 'This will hopefully open the doors for a lot of people, including me.'"

Josh Gillespie, spokesman for the BMV, said the agency is reviewing the court ruling and its options but has not made a decision on how to proceed. Gillespie also declined to talk about previous plate requests or individual customers, such as Vawter and Hider.

The experiences of Vawter, Hider and others show that Indiana's denial of a personalized license plate can, say, get a little personal.

Denied, then approved

Jason Borneman, 36, Indianapolis, threatened a lawsuit before the agency relented and reversed the denial of his request for "NO GODS."

Borneman, an atheist, applied for the plate in late 2008 and waited for a response. Several months later he received a letter. Denied. Not ready to give up, he fired off a letter to the BMV questioning how it handles personalized license plates.

"I do not see how 'NO GODS' is offensive to good taste and decency, unless the Indiana BMV considers atheists and non-believers to be offensive to good taste and decency themselves. I have seen at least one PLP with a message of 'BE GODS.' To allow that but not a PLP making a different religious (or non-religious) statement would be giving preferential treatment to one viewpoint over another," he wrote.

Borneman also wrote about his experiences on a blog. The story of his fight spread, picked up by the website Reddit and another blog, The Friendly Atheist. He also approached the Freedom From Religion Foundation and ACLU.

The BMV responded more quickly this time. The next letter came from the agency's top attorney.

"The BMV initially denied your application and sent a letter to you informing you of that determination. Subsequently, the BMV did an additional review of all applications that were denied and determined that your application should have been approved," the letter said. "As such, your request for NO GODS is approved for the 2010 registration year."

Borneman said he still isn't sure if the agency's claims of an error were legit or if the BMV just didn't want a legal fight at that time.

The "NO GODS" plate hasn't been as controversial as he had expected.

Frank Murphy, 55, Mooresville, also has gone a few rounds with the BMV over his desire for a personalized plate that expresses his dislike of Indiana winters.

Murphy, who had spent most of his life in Florida and Oklahoma before moving to Indiana in 1999, thought he would like living in a place with four seasons. But his idealized vision soon soured. So he decided to get a personalized plate that expressed his new feelings about snow and freezing temperatures. He wanted to put it on his Mustang GT convertible, a car he only drives in the summer.

Suddenly offensive

The BMV approved his request for a plate that said "WNTR SUX," and he displayed it proudly on the Mustang for nearly three years. Then, out of the blue, he got a letter from the BMV. The plate would not be renewed. It was, suddenly, offensive.

Murphy went back to a BMV office and tried to find a new, inoffensive option. He tried "IH8WNTR" but was told references to hate were prohibited. Frustrated, he left.

A few weeks later, Murphy went online and applied for a new plate: "H8SWNTR." It was approved, despite what he had recently been told.

He was shocked last week when he saw The Star's article about the Greenfield police officer's lawsuit. The story noted the judge had questioned the BMV's random, and unexplainable, approach to granting requests. One of the examples cited in the ruling: "WNTR SUX" was approved, the judge noted, while the BMV refused "CNCR SUX."

Now Murphy is hoping to reapply for "WNTR SUX."

Gaming the system

One wall of Hider's immaculately tidy garage is lined with many of his old personalized plates, hanging in neat rows, 67 in all.

They span from lighthearted fun, such as "IMBROKE" and "TAX2 DTH" to risque, such as "EZLOVER" and "5EXFEAN," to over-the-top, such as "4NEKATOR."

Some carry even more graphic and sexual messages — but only when they are viewed upside-down. He was able, on numerous occasions, to slip past the censors what appeared to be random combinations of letters, numbers and spaces that, when flipped over, revealed references to sex acts and body parts.

Hider said he was stopped one time after a police officer saw one of the plates, which he had displayed upside-down on his car. He flipped it back rightside-up, and it turned innocuous: "NVWSSV."

The idea for that plate actually came from an episode of television's "Seinfeld," he admitted. But most of Hider's ideas come to him while he is sleeping.

"When an idea pops into my head," he said, "I get up and write it down."

Hider said he has given away many of his old plates, which must be renewed every year.

Although he has gamed the system plenty, Hider also has lost more than a few requests.

One of the most surprising denials, he said, came after he tried to get a plate that said "FIU," a reference to Florida International University. When the plate expired, he planned to give it a friend who was an alum.

The BMV rejected his request as offensive. So Hider got the university president to write a letter on his behalf. Still, the request was denied. He let that one go.

In the wake of the lawsuit ruling, however, Hider is ready to fight again. He said he already has spoken to his attorney about trying to get back a longtime favorite that the BMV denied a few years ago — after he had had it for 25 years. It said "CHOKER."

"I try to be clever and have fun," he said, "but sometimes they don't seem to have much of a sense of humor."